Surgical sutures have been successfully used for various types of medical procedures, including tissue and wound closure. Surgical sutures typically have a needle attached at one end. As the needle penetrates tissue, the suture enters, passes through, and exits tissue, at which point knots may be used to secure the tissue or wound.
Additionally, sutures typically employ a knot at the distal end to secure the suture end in tissue, permitting movement of the free end through tissue. Knot tying adds time to a procedure and may result in additional bulk material being left at the wound site. Improvements in the field are desired.
Furthermore, specific patient populations such as patients with diabetes T1, T2, or other immuno-compromised patients (such as chemotherapy patients) have less elastic tissue. These patient populations have longer healing profiles and less compliant tissue and these factors may lead to lower suture holding forces in tissue. Needles tend to be oversized for given suture diameter and a larger needle may leave behind a larger hole at the needle penetration point in the tissue. The suture generally needs to fill this hole. Also, improvements in suture holding forces are desired.